Geek Files
by Adventurer411
Summary: A story to shove all my JxA drabbles and scraps into. Everything here will be JxA, every time. Current drabble/story: Caribbean. Earlier her mind had translated "do you want to watch a movie with me" to "do you want to spend two hours with me in dim lighting", and she was very interested in that part.
1. Ice Skating

"Come on, Jeremy!"

"No."

"Please?"

"Aelita, you know I look ridiculous. I'm not doing it again."

"You don't look that bad, really. I'm sure a little more practice will help. In fact, I think you're getting better already!"

"Really?"  
"Really. Please come skate."

"…No."

Jeremy Belpois did not like skating. He liked computers, school, reading, and many more similar things. He did not like sports, singing, or Odd's jokes.

And he did not like skating. He most certainly did not like skating if it involved ice.

Why did Jim have to go through one of his suspiciously nice phases right now, and bring the class to ice skate on the frozen pond in the park? Why not later in the summer?

On Aelita's insistence, he had very reluctantly dragged himself out onto the ice, only to discover that there was no need for dragging. One slip was all that was necessary. The ice would do the rest: throwing him across the pond in an embarrassingly splayed position, which received either rude complaints or giggles. To Jeremy's chagrin, the giggles quickly turned into full-blown laughter.

'_It will be fun,' she says, _Jeremy thought, '_Don't worry, you'll do fine!'_

That was easy for her to say. After a few clumsy attempts, she seemed to somehow glide over the ice. When he asked, half jealous and half amazed, how she could have possibly remembered how to ice skate after spending eleven years in a computer, she responded that it was kind of like riding a bike. It was almost like some pre-wired ability; all she had to do was awaken it again.

That made sense. Jeremy had never been particularly good at riding a bike. Or any kind of physical thing that required skill, really.

Okay. Scratch that: Jeremy did not just dislike ice skating; he hated it. There was only one reason he hadn't gone back to the dorms by now.

And she was happily skating circles and figure eights around impressed students as Jeremy struggled to keep up, flailing and trying to block out sniggers. Yumi occasionally skated by them using simple but comfortable looking movements and waving at them. She had previously been engaged in a snowball fight with Odd and Ulrich, but had enough when a snowball had found its way down her shirt.

A few of the nicer students gave Jeremy some tips, though most of them just commented on how much he looked like a deranged swan. As if that even made sense, Jeremy thought heatedly.

All the while, Aelita called encouragement to him, effortlessly righting Jeremy or helping him up when he became a little shaky. But seven slips, three slides, and at least two bruises later, she too was giving him that hesitant smile that indicated his lack of skill. She was even struggling not to laugh now, quite obviously, as he pitched over dramatically for what seemed like the thousandth time.

As he stomped off - or tried to, anyways; he had only taken one step before the ice deemed him incompetent and booted him off - Aelita guilty attempted to stifle giggles. He collapsed, aching, on the nearest bench to watch her skate. His cheeks were flushed from a mixture of the cold, anger, and embarrassment.

The weather was kind of nice, though, if one could ignore frozen noses and ears. The snow was still beautifully white. There were no classes tomorrow, so maybe he could spend the day with Aelita. She looked happy at the moment, twirling in circles in sync with Emily. Jeremy felt his stomach jerk in a moment of anxiousness as the girls bumped each other and fell back onto the ice dizzily, shaking. But it was from laughter.

Ice skating wasn't so bad when he was watching someone else do it. Feeling less tempered by these thoughts, Jeremy drew his legs up, wincing. He would be sore tomorrow. He shifted, trying to become as comfortable as possible, and comforted himself with thoughts of spending the day huddled with Aelita enjoying a cup of hot chocolate.

When the sun had melted to a golden color and most of the students had chosen what Jeremy was fantasizing about over the ice, he was in a considerably better mood. Aelita had also continually skated over to him at least three times in the last hour, for which Jeremy was grateful. She made quite sure that he did _not _want to skate with her, he would not even try, thank you very much, especially since she was laughing at him too. She had looked guilty at this but did not try to deny it.

Red-faced and weary from skating, Yumi had plopped next to him a little earlier. Her greeting:

"Why are guys so complicated?"

This had begun a serious and mutually embarrassing discussion about Ulrich and Aelita that was cut short when Aelita had showed up, arching an eyebrow. There was a look on her face that was far too knowing for Jeremy's liking. He blushed at this, though counting on the cold to justify his redness, and wondered suddenly whether Yumi's face was red from just the cold.

Aelita wobbled over to him about a half hour after that, pink-cheeked as everyone else; unlike everyone else, the color complimented her hair nicely. Jeremy smiled as she plopped down next to him with obvious weariness and contentment. She greeted him with a huff and allowed her head to fall onto Jeremy's shoulder. He stiffened at first, startled, then relaxed. Her hand had found his, their numb fingers clumsily interlaced.

And it was comfortable. Jeremy had become more used to public displays of affection when no one was paying too much attention to them, like now, though he was still bashful about initiating them.

They were content to sit in silence for a minute. At last, Jeremy asked, "Did you have fun?"

Aelita started, and Jeremy briefly wondered if she had fallen asleep. "Oh, mhmm," she murmured, though whether sleepily or distractedly, he couldn't place. It was probably a mixture of both. "Would've been more fun with you."

Jeremy felt his stomach jerk again. "But you wouldn't want to be seen with a deranged swan, would you?" And unable to contain himself as Aelita giggled, he burst out, "What does that even _mean_?"

Aelita swallowed her laughter. "It means that you just need a little practice."

"I practiced for almost two hours earlier."

"And you expect to master ice skating in just two hours?"

Jeremy snorted. "I expect to move up from the deranged swan level in two hours."

Aelita smiled. "You're just having trouble keeping your balance. If you come out onto the ice with me, I can help-"

"No ice," Jeremy interrupted. He didn't want to be laughed at again. "I don't want to skate, Aelita. Or fall down, more accurately."

"Just once," she pleaded, and Jeremy bit his lip. This was the part he had been dreading; he knew that Aelita would make one last attempt to get him to skate with her. "Just once. Ten minutes, and if you're not better by then, I won't bother you with it. Please?" She poured every bit of earnestness into the single word and moved back so she could look at him.

Oh, man, not the lip. Not the way she stuck out her lip... Jeremy's gaze wandered, trying desperately to avoid hers. "Aelita, don't..." But she squeezed his hand, and the intensity he knew was there drew his gaze back.

"Ten minutes," she said again. "That's all."

Jeremy really, really, _really _did not like ice skating.

But he also really, really, _really_ liked Aelita.

He reached toward his watch with a sigh.

"What are you doing?" Aelita asked.

"Ten minutes. _No more."_

Aelita beamed, and the way she grinned mischievously and dragged him up made Jeremy regret his decision almost immediately.

_I'm not going to be able to sit down tomorrow. _

* * *

I'm going to drown you guys in fluff I SWEAR IT

(second part coming soon)


	2. Ice Skating part 2

Jeremy Belpois was wrong.

This was fairly surprising, as the teen was "quite the intelligent one", as one of his parent's friends had once put it. There was no denying this, of course, as Jeremy Belpois had saved the world more than once and remained sane while doing it. That probably deserved a medal.

However, this was ice-skating, not saving the world—and in Jeremy's opinion, much more difficult.

Jeremy had almost been positive he would regret this, that he was not going to be able to sit down properly because of the number of bruises on his—well, he had been positive he would regret giving Aelita that extra ten minutes.

He had been wrong.

"Keep looking at me," she commanded, though it was hardly necessary. Their hands were clasped fairly loosely after Aelita had reminded Jeremy several times that she couldn't use her fingers if he broke them. His gaze was locked on Aelita; somehow, miraculously, he was still standing. He hadn't even fallen _once _since she brought him on like this.

But Jeremy couldn't get over how pretty she was, concentrating fiercely like this. They stared at each other openly. In any other situation, Jeremy would have already averted his eyes by now in embarrassment. He felt like he couldn't now, though; some irresistible force just kept his eyes connected to Aelita's and promised that, as long as he looked at her like this, he would be able to stand.

"See?" She laughed as she skated backwards slowly. Jeremy followed carefully.

"Wow," was all Jeremy could say. He was certainly surprised. He glanced away as Aelita did for half a second.

That was a short time, but big mistake. He slipped and fell toward Aelita, bringing them both down onto the ice. Jeremy blushed and began apologizing even though the pinkette was just laughing.

He began to push himself up when a loud crack sounded. He froze in his position; Aelita's smile suddenly disappeared.

Jeremy watched in growing horror as cracks in the ice branched out from his fingertips. He held his breath, not daring to move.

"Jeremy…" Aelita whispered.

"Don't. Move."

People were shouting. Everyone had to be off the ice by now, Jeremy thought. He was staring at Aelita. Willing his face to be expressionless, even though his heart was pounding fiercely; even though he felt heavier by the second.

"Don't move!" He recognized Jim's shout. He didn't even want to look up.

"Jeremy," Aelita said again, more worriedly this time. "What's happening?"

"Nothing. Just—" He had an idea. "Aelita, turn around. Slowly. Very, very slowly. Okay?"

"I—"

"Okay?" he demanded.

She turned on the ice obediently, using careful moments as he had instructed. Her back brushed his chest as her smaller body curled under his.

"Crawl."

"What?"

"Move!" The urgency and tone of his voice surprised himself so much that Jeremy had to blink and repeat himself. "Move."

The girl shuffled forward on all fours. He heard Aelita suck in her breath as she noticed the cracks in the ice, but she continued moving. Another loud crack split the air and she froze. "_Jeremy_."

"Don't move!" he reminded her, swallowing as the cracks underneath him became more numerous. One wrong move, and that was it. But he wasn't going to even try until Aelita was completely off the ice.

"Aelita, over here!" Ulrich, Odd, and Yumi had made a chain from the bench to the ice. Odd, the lightest one, stood at the edge of the ice with his fingers outstretched.

"C'mon, Princess."

Aelita carefully began shuffling forward again, monitoring the ice below her, until she was close enough. They gripped hands, and the chain started moving in, until they were all in a heap in the snow.

Jeremy watched the whole time with a knot in his stomach. As she reached the other side, the knot loosened slightly.

"Now you, Einstein," Odd called. The chain began to unravel again.

Jeremy swallowed and shook his head. His hands were getting painfully cold, and his arms were shaking. But he couldn't move. There were too many cracks beneath his feet.

There was a crowd of people clustered around the pond. Jim tried unsuccessfully to shoo them away; he was on the phone with someone, frantically moving about the edge of the pond.

All Jeremy saw was the cracks beneath his hands.

He had to sit up. His arms were too weak. Jeremy moved backwards slightly so his weight was on his lower half, anticipating the noise with a sense of dread.

He wasn't disappointed. It was smaller this time but no less nauseating.

"Einstein!"

The chain had grown longer. Yumi and Ulrich stood at the bench while Emily held to Ulrich; a smaller, blond girl held to her, and finally, there was still Odd at the end. He was much closer, straining his arms and eyeing the ice anxiously.

"Hurry up, would you? I haven't got all day." It was a lame attempt at a joke.

Jeremy was grateful for it. He was within a yard of the fingers; Odd was dangerously close.

He took a breath. He couldn't sit here all day waiting for the ice to break. Summoning his courage, Jeremy shuffled forward as Aelita, resisting the urge to wince at the cracks he heard. He stretched out his hand, careful to keep his balance.

Two feet.

More cracks appeared. How had Odd not fallen in yet? How had _he _not fallen in yet?

One foot.

There were cracks blossoming under his feet too. Odd swallowed.

There was a hand's length distance between them.

_Come on… Come on… Just a little closer…_

Then the ice broke.

All too suddenly, there was nothing under his knees. He was falling. Odd lunged for him and brushed his fingers. His legs were cold. Then his body was cold. His arms. He was closing his eyes. It was cold, painfully cold, too cold. He couldn't breath. Shards pieced his lungs and his body. It was too cold. Too cold.

Jeremy was aware of every single detail as if they were being reported to him. Somewhere he had the sense to shrug off his coat; some pressure lifted from his shoulders, following the lift from his feet. His skates must have slipped off.

It was then that the panic came.

Jeremy's eyes shot open. The water was dark and progressively became clearer if you looked up to the air, the wonderful air. He needed that air. Instinctively he tried to kick but his limbs felt frozen.

_It was too cold._

Jeremy inhaled frantically. Pain scratched against his lungs and he coughed; black dots crept across his vision.

_Drowning is painful._

A feeling of numbness spread over him. He couldn't move; he wasn't thinking properly, he just knew that Aelita was safe and where he needed to get desperately—the surface—was getting farther and farther away.

Before he blacked out, he saw a flash of pink.

The numbness became complete.

* * *

He was cold.

The first thing Jeremy knew was that was not right. He was not cold; rather, he was warm. He was surprisingly warm.

And he could breath.

Memory came like a slap. Broken images forced their way into his mind, horrible feelings; he could hear shouting in his mind. Jeremy let this happen. He didn't have a choice. He simply could not think of anything else to do, or didn't know how to stop it.

When there were enough pictures and sounds to make sense of, he remembered.

His eyes shot open.

"You're awake!" came a delighted and relieved sigh.

He was staring at a blurry something. A blurry pink something entered his field of vision; after a moment, Jeremy recognized Aelita's voice.

"Aelita," he said, and the word came out as a gasp. "Are you…? Is everyone…? What happened?" He sat up and then wished he hadn't for several reasons.

One, his head hurt.

Two, the covers slide down to his waist, and that made him not warm. He did not want to be not warm.

Three, and most especially: he was in his underwear.

Jeremy fell back onto the bed, yanking the covers back up. He felt himself blush.

She didn't seem to notice. "Thank God you're safe." She found his hand and squeezed it, then handed him back his glasses. Jeremy thankfully slid them on, and with Aelita's help, sat up with the covers pulled up high.

He looked around. He was in the infirmary. His eyes scanned the empty room, then alighted on a sleeping woman on the next bed over.

"Leanne," he said in surprise.

"Yeah." Aelita wrung her hands. "She happened to be at the park and came running. She brought us back to the infirmary. She's been waiting here with me for most of the night and a lot of the day."

"Us?" Jeremy started, shaking his head. "Wait, most of the night? Wait up. What happened?"

"You fell," she said solemnly. "I… I jumped in after you. The ice broke under Odd, but the chain was strong enough to bring us all in. Leanne brought us to the infirmary in her car…" She took his hand again. "Yolanda checked you out, along with another nurse, and figured out that you were fine." She sighed. "But I was scared to death."

Jeremy squeezed her hand reassuringly. "You… you jumped in after me?"

"Of course," she said, like he should've known that.

"Aelita… Don't you ever do that again."

It was Aelita's turn to be surprised. "W…What?"

"That was dangerous," Jeremy said fiercely. "Don't you ever do that again!"

Aelita became affronted. "What? You've jumped in water to save me once before."

"In a nine foot deep school pool that wasn't below freezing temperature," he said bluntly. "And there were people right by the pool, including a PE teacher."

"You've made your point," she said quickly. "But what would you have done?"

Jeremy's protesting fell silent. She had gotten him there.

"That's what I thought." She too fell silent, pulling her legs to her chest. Jeremy noticed that she was wearing maroon sweats, a simple outfit that she managed to make look good.

"Thank you," he said after several seconds. "For… saving me. And thanks to everyone else. But…" He struggled with the impulse for a moment, turning red. He beckoned to her.

"Hmm?" she leaned in closer, and Jeremy kissed her on the cheek.

Aelita's eyes widened. Then she grinned, pleasantly surprised. Jeremy was smiling shyly.

He cleared his throat after a moment, looking down. "Uh, Aelita? What—um, where are my—"

"Odd and Ulrich took them off," she said, sliding off her chair and walking over to a pile of clothes. She brought them back to Jeremy. "Here."

"Okay, thanks," he said, rifling through the pile. He gripped the blankets, glancing at Aelita uncertainly.

"Oh, right, sorry," she said and turned so she faced the opposite direction. She heard the covers rustle as Jeremy began to dress. "Odd and Ulrich are still probably sleeping. You know how they are. Oh, speaking of, I promised I'd call Yumi when you woke up. Everyone's been worried sick, and you have no idea how guilty Jim is for letting us skate on that dangerous ice."

"It's not his fault." Jeremy didn't love the gym teacher, but he had acquired a certain fondness over the years for him, and certainly didn't want to see him booted out. "He's not going to get fired, is he?"

"I don't think so, since all of us are fine."

"Oh, good." He tapped Aelita's shoulder and she turned around, grinning.

"What?"

"I always liked your blue one better," she said.

Jeremy smiled.

A growling noise interrupted them.

"Is that you?" Aelita asked, stifling a giggle.

"I'm hungry," Jeremy said unnecessarily. "What day is it?"  
"You slept through the night; there are no classes today, though. It's just about nine."

"I'm really hungry then."

"Alright, Odd," she said, rolling her eyes. But she was smiling. "It's a little late for breakfast, but I'm sure they'll make an exception."

"Race you," Jeremy challenged.

"I would, but Yolanda said to take it easy." She took his hand. "No running for you."

"You sound like a mom."

"And don't forget to brush your teeth."

"Funny."

But they walked to the cafeteria, hand in hand, with Jeremy whistling happily the whole way.

* * *

I feel like I kind of rushed where the ice was cracking, but I did it because I didn't want to sound too serious since this is meant to be light fluff?

The next one will actually be a more serious discussion about their relationship, but I can't do serious for too long unless it's angst.


	3. We Need to Talk

"Jeremy, we need to talk."

It was with a knotted stomach that the young genius nodded, dragging his feet slightly as he followed the pinkette. Before, he wouldn't have been worried—that is, before Yumi had talked to him about it. He was a genius, as mentioned beforehand, but only in certain aspects. Even if those aspects were wide, they did not encompass romance. So naturally Jeremy had listened carefully when she had come to him, saying that she had a very important piece of romantic advice for him.

The "we need to talk" was always bad news. Those weren't exactly the words she used, but Jeremy had understood perfectly fine. He was slightly skeptical, however; how could those four words possibly be so bad?

Now he wondered whether it was karma that made Aelita's face look so serious, that or upset, as she broke off from their group for some privacy. Ulrich gave him a look of sympathy as he left and Jeremy really began to worry, frantically going through his mind for anything he had said or done recently that had been offensive. He hadn't said anything stupid (yet) or done anything stupid (…yet), so why was she looking at him like that?

Aelita stopped several yards away from the vending machine, leaning on the pillar at an angle that allowed her to be unseen by the rest of the group. Jeremy slouched a little, trying to appear casual, but he was making fists inside his pockets. They both stared at the ground between them, silent.

At last, Aelita began, "So—"

"I didn't do anything," Jeremy blurted impulsively. He then flushed as Aelita raised an eyebrow, continually hastily, "I mean, I didn't… I'm not trying—Yumi just told me—please, go on." He bit his tongue and stared at the ground, missing Aelita's smile of amusement.

"You sound like a guilty child. I _know _you didn't do anything, but don't change my mind. I just want to talk," she said.

Four sounded like the word death in Chinese, Jeremy thought absently. Maybe that was why that four-word sentence was so dangerous. "Alright," he said slowly. She didn't just want to talk. If she did, she would be saying it in front of everyone else. She wanted to _talk, _as Yumi had once put it, not talk. Whatever that meant. Jeremy was beginning to understand. "What did you want to talk about?"

"You and me." She looked up at him. "You know… _us_."

Jeremy felt a tingle go up his spine. He had entered dangerous territory. If he said one thing wrong, he'd step on a land mine. If he _didn't _say something, the ground would crumble beneath his feet. "What about us?" he asked carefully.

"I don't know, it's just… what are we? I mean, are we friends, or…?" She glanced at him hesitantly, then looked away.

Jeremy had no idea what to say. "Or?" he questioned.

"Or something more," she clarified, and Jeremy blushed. He rifled through his brain for something to say. _Just friends. _She could get upset and/or angry. She could be relieved, the thought of which for some reason made Jeremy slightly nauseous. _More._ No, he couldn't even think about that option.

He settled on a slow, "Well, what do you want us to be?" He looked at her quickly, afraid of her reaction, but she just seemed thoughtful. Good, he thought.

Jeremy was no longer slouching. He felt stiff and his palms felt sweaty; he stealthily slid them out of his pockets while wiping them on the rough fabric. Feeling too awkward with his arms hanging at his sides, he clasped them together. Then, still feeling odd, he decided to fold his arms while trying not to give off the impression that he was cross.

He was worrying too much.

"Well, I love what we have as friends," Aelita said, straightening against the pillar, "But…"

Jeremy thought it best to wait for her to finish her thought, lest he screw up by finishing it for her. But several uncomfortable seconds had gone by and she showed no sign of finishing, so he took a step across the field, praying that he hadn't disturbed a land mine.

"Do you… do you want something more?"

"Sort of. I think I do." She stepped closer; there was only one a foot between them, so it was almost impossible to look away from her without being impolite. "But what about you? What do you want?"

What did _he _want? Jeremy blinked as if startled. "Excuse me?"

"What do you want? There's no right or wrong answer, you know," she added.

If there was no right answer, what was he supposed to say? On the other hand, if there were no wrong answer, he couldn't upset her with his response, could he? But what was he supposed to say?

_Maybe you could just answer the question, _a voice in his mind said helpfully.

He didn't know what he wanted, though. "Ah… uh… Pass?"

Aelita smiled. "You can't pass." Her smiled quickly disappeared. "I was just wondering, because any time I try something, it… it embarrasses you."

"Well of course it embarrasses me," Jeremy burst out, then backtracked as Aelita frowned. "No! I don't mean like that. It's not that bad," he said.

"Not _that _bad. Thank you," Aelita said dryly.

Oops. Land mine. "I didn't mean it like that," he said hastily. "Not that it's not that bad, because it's _not_—it's not bad at all—I just—I'm… not good at this," he finished lamely.

"I can tell." This time she was smiling slightly.

Jeremy swallowed. He forced himself to look at her, and spoke before he could think about what he was trying to say. "It was just a little embarrassing because—because, I like you. I really like you." He blushed heavily and averted his eyes. Suddenly, Jeremy found himself smiling. It felt good to say that.

Aelita broke into a grin. "You have no idea how long I've been wanting to hear that."

"Really?"

Aelita kissed him. His eyes widened.

"Yes, really," she said after several moments of smiling at him. She had turned pink. "You're getting better," she teased, "Last time, you froze up."

"Oh, don't remind me. That was too embarrassing. Odd brings it up every time he wants something from me," he said, but he was grinning wildly. "So… are we… uh… then?"

Aelita blinked.

"Are we… you know…? You know what I'm talking about?"

"No," she said slowly, but a smile was creeping onto her face. "Alright, yes."

"So… are we?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You just said that you did."

"I do." She raised both of her eyebrows and grinned. "But I want you to say it."

"But—"

"Say it. Ask me."

"Okay," he said shakily. "Aelita, will you—um—be my girlfriend?"

"Absolutely." Looking satisfied, she happily took his hand. "Don't look so confused, Jer."

"But I've never had a girlfriend before," he said in a flustered tone.

"I've never had a boyfriend before either, so I guess this can be a new experience for both of us."

He glanced at her. "Yeah, but the difference is that I didn't have a girlfriend because girls don't look twice at nerds. People are surprised to see me with you," he admitted, though he knew Aelita was most likely aware of this herself. "Frankly, I am too."

"Don't say that," she urged, gently shoving her shoulder against Jeremy's. He retailed with a playful poke to the side that made Aelita jerk away, a funny look on her face.

"Did I hurt you?" he asked, frowning.

"No," Aelita said, trying to get the look under control. Jeremy poked her again and she made an odd noise, stepping away from him completely and wrapping her arms against her stomach.

"Oh," Jeremy said, slowly breaking into a grin as comprehension dawned. "You're ticklish."

The look on his face made Aelita shake her head vigorously. "Oh no, Belpois, don't you_ dare."_

But he did dare. He dared, pinning her against the wall and tickling the girl mercilessly. She writhed and gasped between laughs, crying out more than once for help. He was glad that no one was around; it would be a little odd to be caught in this position.

Aelita suddenly leaned forward, kissing him full on the lips. Jeremy stopped tickling her immediately, making a muffled noise of surprise.

She grinned at him breathlessly when she pulled away.

Aware that his face was flushed and his eyes were wide but not caring at all, Jeremy managed, "H-hey… That's cheating!" And they both burst into laughter.

"Perfect!"

They both turned. Millie was pumping a fist in the air while Tamiya waved a camera around, grinning. "And it's about time too," the black haired girl said, looping it around her neck.

"Hope you like the front page," Millie said teasingly, and she and Tamiya darted off.

A second later, Jeremy turned to Aelita, face flushed. "It's not that I want to hide our relationship—"

"—but you don't want everyone in the school to be bothering you about it," she finished. "Right. Let's catch up to them."

And it was times like these when Jeremy cursed his lack of athletic ability.

* * *

You guys didn't really think I'd be doing the serious "This isn't working" talk. haha no thank you

Because it's not super obvious that I love taking advantage of Jeremy's freezing/surprise when he gets kissed *cough*

ahem, stay tuned for more Jerlita. ALSO

I will be illustrating two scenes from this drabble, and you guys will decide which ones! Just leave your pick (one only, please) as a review or pm. Top two scenes will be drawn.

Thanks!~


	4. Mistletoe

"Aelita, will you help me with this?"

"Sure."

Jeremy shifted to the side to allow her room. She scooted under the table further and reached her arms up toward the tangle of wires, carefully untangling one from another. They were lying next to each other under the table for refreshments; why Jim had chosen this location to put the wires under, or why he had to tape them to the table in this hard to reach position, they had no clue  
They had volunteered to set up for the Christmas Ball. Yumi decided that she had better handle the snacks after Odd had been eyeing one bowl of chips hungrily, so the blond was perched on a ladder as he handled the banner with Ulrich. Of course Jeremy had been sent to work on anything tech related, while Aelita flitted around all of them and provided help where she could once she was done setting up the mixing board.

"Do you think Jim would mind if we, I don't know, actually made this possible to work on?" Jeremy grunted as he twisted for the thousandth time, struggling to turn his hand pull a blue wire from a darker one.

Aelita didn't answer. She was deeply focused on one cluster of wires that really seemed to want to make her frustrated; they were all black and intertwined in such a way that she had to follow each wire with a finger rather than just with her eyes. She bit her lip, withholding a sigh as she pulled two wires from the cluster. Two down, two to go. Her arms were tired. But the last two were even worse than before, so it wasn't very long until she let out a huff of irritation and let her arms—arm, Jeremy was pressed against her opposite shoulder on the floor, reaching upward—flop beside her.

Jeremy glanced at Aelita and imitated her movement, though less dramatically. He rested his hands on his stomach. "Problems?"

"Problems," she confirmed fiercely, throwing her frustrating into the word. "These won't come undone." She gestured to two wires.

"Here, let me help. Instead of trying to untangle each bit," he said slowly, tugging at the wires, "see if you can get them looser so it's easier. And… there."

Aelita gaped at him. The two wires were coiled beside each other, no longer tangled. "You're amazing."

Jeremy rested his hands on his stomach again. "I guess I am," he said agreeably.

Aelita grinned and nudged his side. Jeremy nudged back, and she poked his stomach, evoking a half laugh and half gasp from the boy. "I give," he said quickly.

Aelita smirked, smugly lacing her fingers with his. "I win."

"You do." They turned their heads, facing each other. Their noses almost touched. Jeremy began to blush at their proximity.

A sudden flash of light said that the cloth had been lifted.

"C'mon lovebirds. No smooching on the job. We need your help with something," Odd's voice said.

Jeremy sat straight up, hitting his head on the table. He hissed with pain and crouched, rubbing his head.

Odd snickered and let the cloth drop.

"We'd better go," Aelita said; she was no longer looking at him. That was fine. He knew he was red in the face and his hair was probably a mess now too. "Uh, yeah."

They crawled out from under the table. Odd was beckoning to them. "Come on, come on!"

"We're coming," Jeremy said.

"Jeez, Odd," Aelita said simultaneously.

Odd walked across the gym and toward the doors with them following. "Okay, okay, now stay right there," he said, a weird expression in his face, "I have to check something."

Ulrich suddenly appeared near Odd as he moved backwards. He briefly whispered to Odd, and the blond nodded. He lifted his hands up, forming a rectangle with the L's of his fingers and looking at them through the little box.

"Odd, what are you doing?" Jeremy asked suspiciously.

"Nothing. Nothing at all."

"Well, what did you want us to help with?" Aelita asked.

Odd broke into a grin, as did Ulrich beside him. The latter was suppressing laughter. Odd pointed. "That."

Jeremy and Aelita followed his finger upwards. "I don't see what…" Jeremy began, then stopped. There was a sprig of mistletoe hanging from the doorway. "Oh, real mature, guys," he snapped to cover his embarrassment.

"I'm sure you know what that means, seeing as you guys are both geniuses and all," he said innocently as if he hadn't heard Jeremy, turning is palms upward and shrugged. "I mean, it's only right."

Jeremy blushed and shoved his hands in his pockets, but didn't move from his spot. Aelita was still staring up at the mistletoe. "Odd, this is ridiculous…"

"You know the rules."

Jeremy looked to Ulrich for help, but the brunette was suspiciously avoiding his gaze. He shook his head. "Just because you put us under here doesn't mean we have to—um—" He broke off as Aelita looked down, first glancing fiercely at Odd, then at Jeremy with an embarrassed expression. Ever so slowly, she began to smile.

And ever so quickly, Jeremy's eyes widened. She was going to do it. She was actually going to…. Before he could finish the thought, Aelita leaned forward and kissed him. Ulrich made a noise of surprise, and he thought he heard Odd saying, "_Yes!_"

"Happy?" Aelita asked a few seconds later.

"Yes," Odd repeated smugly; for some reason, Ulrich began blushing. "Go on." Then they watched as the brunette muttered something and then walked over to where Yumi was arranging snack bowls. He kissed her, making her nearly drop the dip she had been holding.

"We had a bet," Odd whispered devilishly. "I told him I could make you guys kiss. He lost; he has to kiss Yumi. Though something tells me he didn't really want to win anyway."

Jeremy looked at Aelita, stunned and expecting her to be mad. Instead she put her hands in the pockets of her jumper and shrugged. "You did kind of lose, though. I wouldn't have done it if I didn't want to," she said airily. And she walked back toward the table, leaving Jeremy grinning and Odd gaping.

* * *

oops I snuck in some Ulumi there

...my bad


	5. Too Much

"Just give me a minute."

Aelita felt a sour pit of disappointment drop into her stomach as she heard those words. She'd heard them often enough to know what they meant: she'd sit impatiently, waiting for him to finish work that would end up taking much more than a minute. Then he would insist on her to leave if she wanted to leave, and they would go back and forth, until Aelita finally relented.

Wistfully, she glanced out his window at her friends in the courtyard. She wanted to be with them, but she also wanted to be with Jeremy. She had been trying all week to drag him away from that stupid computer.

A small sigh escaped her lips.

"Is there something wrong?" Jeremy asked absently as he picked up on it, his rapid-fire typing slowing ever so minutely.

Aelita worked up a fairly convincing mask of cheeriness that would make up for her sullen _no_, but then she let it drop, suddenly struck with an idea.

"Yes," she said, a little more fiercely than she'd intended, and remedied that by repeating her answer more slowly. "Yes."

Jeremy's typing broke, a sign that showed he was paying attention. "What's the matter? You can go if you'd like, you know."

And there it was. It was this time she'd get him away, though. "I would," she said, very honestly. "And I will. But you're coming with me."

"Aelita, you know I can't. I still have work-"

"-to do. Trying to defeat Xana isn't a side job," she cut him off, mimicking his serious tone and expression.

Now Jeremy turned to look at her. He had raised one eyebrow slightly, either a sign of amusement or irritation. Probably a bit of both, though more of the latter.

"If I don't work, Xana could overrun us at any minute." She raised her eyebrow, copying his current expression, then let it all drop. "Jeremy, you need to take a break."

"But-"

"-Xana doesn't take breaks," she recited in unison. "Jeremy, you work way too much," she said again, her forehead creased in concern. "You're supposed to treat your life like the main thing and Xana's defeat as a side priority. Not the other way around."

Jeremy shrugged helplessly. He was completely turned in his chair, computer forgotten. That was step one. "Well, what do you want me to do, Aelita?" He had more arguments, but she had either heard them all, or they were very poor. Jeremy wearily placed his palms up in a gesture of defeat, unable to summon the effort to bring any of them up. "Do you think I like doing this?"

"Do you think we like seeing you like this?" Aelita countered, hands on hips. "Do you think _I_ like seeing you like this? We're just children-teenagers, but still children-we can't expected to work on this twenty-four seven. That includes you. You need a break."

Jeremy bristled, and Aelita could see she had made a mistake. "You guys always get mad at me because I'm supposedly responsibly for this. You expect me to handle everything on my own. Then you take it all back and tell me I'm not capable?" he snapped.

"That's not-" Aelita began.

"Which is it? Am I an incapable child or responsible teen?"

"Jeremy!" she barked, then hurriedly continued at his stung look. "It's not like that. Everyone just gets a little stressed sometimes, like you. Whatever you are," she said carefully, "you need a break."

Jeremy was sighing, rubbing his palms into his eyes. "Maybe you're right. I don't know, Aelita."

Her hopes had lifted at the first sentence, then dropped slightly at the second. "You need a break," she repeated for the third time, resolute.

When Jeremy removed his hands, he jerked back slightly from Aelita's face. She had crept over to him and put on a sweet smile. "Please, come out with us?"

She was a little close there. "Ah, well," he said distractedly, trying not to look at her, "I still... have some... uh." His eyes were drawn, inexplicably, back to hers. Their noses were two inches apart.

Some part of Aelita felt guilty for doing this. The rest of her squashed the guilt, stating confidently that he needed this. "Please?" she asked again.

"A-Aelita, I don't..." Color rushed into his cheeks. He managed to avert his eyes. "Are... are you feeling okay?"

"Yes. I don't know. Maybe," she said lightly, a thoughtful smile touching her lips. "I could use some fresh air. Come outside with me?"

"I, um..."

Aelita pulled her trump card. She kissed him lightly on the mouth and took his hand, smiling sweetly. He stared at her dazedly, mouth slightly gaping.

"Come on, Jeremy."

He was too shocked and unfocused to disobey. Muttering something incomprehensible-Aelita thought she heard something about suddenly feeling like it was a good idea to go outside-he stood and followed her.

Aelita cheered quietly to herself. Mentally, she chalked up the victory.

_Einstein 0, Princess 1._

* * *

Written on a whim from a prompt from a friend (souljelly, who has awesome drabbles and jerlita stuff) _  
_

Yes the illustrations will be coming, but first I need to work on something for my parents' birthdays. BUT

for school we had to illustrate an idiom or oxymoron, and I chose alone together because I wanted to do something CL related (even though there was virtual reality and typically 'Odd' XD) and it immediately made me think of Jerlita, since she's all alone on Lyoko, so they're not really together when they talk. (;-;) that illustration will be coming soon.


	6. Miss You

"You won't even miss me."

They embraced, knowing the words were a lie. They were a lie, but a comfort, however, and any comfort right then was greatly welcomed.

Aelita simply nodded, silenced by the lump in her throat and tears running down her cheeks.

Reluctantly, they broke apart from the already unnaturally long hug. "You'll have Shrew to keep you company," Jeremy offered. He was referring to the scruffy kitten they had found in the bushes around their apartment. After quick debate Jeremy took him to the vet and took him home; the little cat had adapted quite well. He had wanted to name him Schrodinger, but Aelita had immediately objected. That was no name for a cat, she said. So they shortened it to Shrew with her claiming that it was vaguely similar to Schrodinger in sound.

"His company is nothing compared to yours," she responded without a hint of a smile. Jeremy's own forced smile faltered.

"I could always cancel—"

"No," Aelita cut him off shortly. "You can't pass it up. We talked about this. End of story." She spoke in short, sharp bursts that discouraged further continuation of the topic.

Jeremy nodded, his smile disappearing completely. Aelita felt a momentary flare of guilt, knowing that he had just been trying to keep things as optimistic as possible. It was for her, if not for both of them. She couldn't bring herself to mutter out an apology. Instead, tears began to fill her eyes again.

"Hey, don't start now," Jeremy said softly, "You'll make me cry too."

Aelita quickly drew her sleeve over her eyes. The stricken undertone in his voice only made her want to cry more, but she somehow pushed the urge down. An uncomfortable silence settled over them.

Aelita wanted to break it, wanted to say something, to make the most of this last minute she had with him. He would be gone for years. Years with just videoconferences, calls, and texts to keep them linked.

_Say something. _

Nothing would come out. Internally, she screamed at herself.

Jeremy was the one to break silence. He'd left it several seconds too long, however. "Goodbye," he said simply, his voice cracking on the word. He kissed her as she stood frozen, not trusting herself to speak.

He turned and began to walk away, but he had only gone a few steps when he turned around again. "I love you."

She met his gaze, unwavering. She swallowed hard. "I love you too."

He turned around and walked again, gripping the handle of his luggage. Aelita watched him go, wanting to leave already, but also not wanting to waste any more glances at him. He was walking farther, walking to the plane that would take him too far away for comfort. The small crowd hid most of him, but Aelita strained, determined not to miss him.

He had turned around. She squinted and swore to herself that there was a tear on his cheek.

Then, over the crowd, he gave a minute wave.

It took every ounce of willpower Aelita had not to begin crying again. She felt a gaping ache split her chest as she waved back, chocking back a small sob. Tears blurred her vision.

When she wiped them away, he was gone.

* * *

I'm horrible


	7. Welcome to Earth

She was here.

Jeremy watched, dumbly, as the scanners opened to reveal Aelita. She was lying on her side and curled in a fetal position.

She was finally here.

She lifted her head and slowly pushed herself up. Turning a smile that was unfairly cute on him, Aelita attempted to rise to her feet. Her inexperienced muscles shook and collapsed beneath her however, and she fell with a small gasp.

Jeremy walked toward her in a trance. Carefully, he kneeled down and offered her the hand. He wondered how he would support her when he didn't even feel like he could support himself—his head was spinning dizzily, overwhelmed by the prospect of her physical presence.

But he was fine. Her hand felt soft, he thought absentmindedly as they stood in unison. She stumbled and fell against him.

"Sorry." The sheepish word was muttered, muffled, into his turtleneck.

Jeremy looked down at the girl in his arms—the girl he stayed up all night to talk to, the girl he'd worked so hard to bring here—and laughed. It was a clear, obvious sound of sheer joy. In the background he registered Jim's quiet whistle and the others' grins, but he didn't care.

He leaned closer to Aelita so that his lip were near Aelita's ear and whispered softly, "Welcome to Earth."


	8. Contentment

These were the best moments.

Jeremy glanced sideways at Aelita, his smile growing. The pink haired girl was leaning across the table as she poked Odd in the chest for one of his remarks. He responded in kind with a dramatic hand gesture, and Ulrich rolled his eyes at them both. Yumi watched with an amused smile, surveying them like

She wasn't an orphan. She wasn't a stressed teenager with the weight of the world on her shoulders. She wasn't racing to balance schoolwork, her fake identity, and saving the world.

She was Aelita Stones, normal teenager, happy with her friends.

And Jeremy was glad to see her that way. Her childhood—or lack thereof—often weighed heavily on his mind, so he wanted to give her as much of a normal life as possible.

All of it was worth it, he thought—no, knew. Those late night coding sessions, skipping classes, and even Xana was worth these small moments. Sure, Xana might attack at any moment, but he wasn't right now. These would be the treasured breaks would keep them all sane until Xana was finally defeated.

He looked around the table. Odd, Aelita, and Ulrich were in conversation but Yumi was looking at him curiously.

"You're awfully quiet. Something on your mind?" she asked.

Jeremy hesitated. Yumi was understanding and fairly intelligent; it was likely that she'd had the same thoughts he was having at least once before. He was also reluctant to lace this easy afternoon with deep thoughts and analysis.

He let a smile spread over his face. "No." He must have been smiling wider than he realized, because Yumi grinned.

"Something got you in a good mood?"

Jeremy quickly glanced at Aelita. There was a look of happiness and contentment on her face. Judging by the wink that Yumi sent him, she had noticed it too.

"Well?" she asked.

He smiled again, drinking in the look on her face and Aelita's laughter.

"Yeah," Jeremy said at last. "It has."


	9. Aftermath

"Come on. Let's… let's get back."

She nods very slightly and averts her eyes, shivering in the suddenly chilly air. She feels the icy metal on her skin even though it isn't there anymore, and the warmth and relief that washes over her when Jeremy's face swims into view.

He wordlessly walks over to the elevator with her and presses the button. She doesn't glance up to see if he's looking at her; he probably is.

Does she care? No. Yes. Maybe. She doesn't know.

She listens to the creak of the elevator as it descends, almost startlingly loud in their silence. Unbidden tears jump to her eyes but she holds them back. She's suddenly noticed how, across from her, he wrestles with a tormented expression on her face and guesses he's not too far from tears either.

"I'm sorry," she bursts out at the same time he begins, "Why did you—"

They both stop, and she takes an instinctive step back.

"You first," he says, struggling to keep his expression under control.

"I'm sorry," she repeats without hesitation. Then as they step into the elevator it all tumbles out accidentally—her self-doubts, how miserable she'd been, how miserable Sissi had made her. She internally curses herself for her lack of willpower and restraint. Jeremy watches her through it all with an aghast expression, looking like he wants to interrupt but simultaneously speechless.

When she lets out a breath and no more words tumble out, he picks up. She hardly notices as they step out of the elevator.

"Aelita, I'm—I'm not sure why you would ever thing that, but you are not pathetic… you're… you're not a burden," he says lamely.

She looks away again, this time in shame. _He's tripping over his words because he's lying._

"Aelita, please don't ever… I can't believe you… You shouldn't…" He struggles, unable to get anything more than fragments out. Why? She had just tried to kill herself. Can't he say something, any of the panicked and hysterical thoughts swimming around in his head right now? He manages to gather his thoughts but nothing more, and ends up saying, "Please, Aelita, don't ever do that again." His voice shakes as he speaks.

She glances up from the stairs. She's been staring at them as they climb, hoping to drown herself in the monotony of their grey color. Now they end, however, and though he's not specifically inquiring anything, he's addressing her. She wonders briefly whether it's the steady ascending of the stairs that makes his voice shake, or something else. "I won't. I'm sorry."

All she can do is apologize. He wants to correct her, but he doesn't have the strength.

They walk back through the forest. By some unspoken agreement, they veer away from the sewer shortcut and begin trudging through the undergrowth. The silence between them is strained tightly, and there are so many things she wants to say to break it before it snaps on its own, but she just can't speak. Every time she begins something in her mind, too terrified to speak spontaneously, it ends up sounding wilted and weak. Eventually the self-deprecating and doubtful thoughts in her mind turn to a constant stream: _Say something. Say something. _

It's not until they hover at the edge of the courtyard, tucked away in the final grove of trees that she can summon the courage for action. She slips her hand into his.

_Say something._

"Your hands are shaking," she says, surprising both of them. He acknowledges the observation with a slight inclination of his head.

"I guess I'm just a little shaken," he says, laughing nervously. "You get it? I'm shaken, and… shaking."

She quickly realizes that the edge to his tone is not just upset, but dangerously close to hysteria. She squeezes his hand.

"Jeremy," she says helplessly, wanting more than anything to ease the look on his face but at a loss for words.

He lets out another quiet laugh, and his face crumbles. He squeezes her hand back, hard, and it's his turn for words to tumble out.

"Aelita, I've never been so worried. Just _seeing_ you lying there I nearly had a heart attack. You don't go running off doing things like that! Thinking you're a burden, how _ridiculous_. Everyone cares about you. _I _care about you. Do you think I spend hours working on your antivirus for fun?" His face is stricken with despair and something disturbingly akin to guilt. "Do you?"

Startled, she takes a moment to reply. "N-No."

He shakes his head and lets out a stifled sob. For a moment, Aelita watches him with horror, worried that he'll begin sobbing right then and there. It served her right, she thinks, trying something like this. But she doesn't know what she'd do if he suddenly burst into tears.

Fortunately, the next breath he takes seems to keep it all in. And to her astonishment, a smile, albeit very strained, has made its way onto his face. But the tortured look beneath it is unbearable. She cuts the space between them in half with a step and leans her head against his shoulder, murmuring softly.

"I'm sorry."

It's genuine, not the result of too much guilt and self-doubt. She doesn't say it just because. She says it, and she means it.

His arm curls around her waist. "It's okay," he whispers back in a response. For now, she can accept that it is.

But as she lets out a quiet sigh, she can hear his tears and sobs being muffled into her hair.


	10. Delusions

"You're pretty."

"Jeremy, you're not in your right mind—"

He giggled and twirled a lock of her hair. "It's like… pink, and stuff." Then he stumbled against her, almost knocking the pinkette down.

"Jeremy," she moaned. "Stand up straight. Please."

He chuckled again, swaying on the spot. All of those shocks and getting thrown against the walls had apparently gotten to him, she'd said. She had deactivated the tower, only to come back to a Jeremy slumped on the cold floor of the computer lab. They had shaken him away, gently at first, then frantically until to their relief, he opened his eyes.

"_Jeremy, are you okay?"  
"…You're pretty." _

It had become the blond's catchphrase. Aelita had gotten over her embarrassment and initial pink blushes, and the words now only served to remind her that he was far-gone.

"_Will he be okay?" _

"_He should be, by tomorrow."_

It's not like it hadn't happened before. This time Aelita's cheeks did color as she remembered the gym. She was stuck now, walking with him back to school, on account of the important tests Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi couldn't miss. She had some of the same tests. But being ahead as she was, Aelita was the only person that could stay behind to help Jeremy back without extreme consequences.

Except he wasn't quite it walking condition. She set him upright again with a grunt, wondering why in the world he would be so heavy if he were so scrawny. She wished she'd thought to set a return to the past.

She stumbled through the forest with him, not wanting to risk the climb down to the sewers. He'd been babbling nonsense all the way. Once or twice, when he stopped giggling ridiculously or swaying like a drunk, she thought he had gone back to being serious. But it was always some equally silly statement that had him dissolving into giggles again.

Blowing hair out of her face, forehead shining with perspiration, she looked at Jeremy. She wasn't going to fool herself—Jeremy was a genius. He wasn't the best socially, athletically, or romantically, sure. When it came to academics… he had more wit and intelligence one would expect from a teen his age.

So here was a great mind, reduced to comparing her hair to cotton candy.

Aelita knew that he would be mortified once he woke. She would have been too if she knew that she had been staggering around and giggling at other people's hair. Deciding that she would spare him most of the details while hanging onto them in case they became useful, she hooked an arm around his waist to keep him steady.

Miraculously, they made it to the dorms without getting caught. Aelita unslung Jeremy's arm from around her shoulder and leaned him against the wall, then collapsed against the wall herself, sighing.

Jeremy looked at her seriously. "Your hair is in your face."

She let out a breath. Normally she wouldn't have humored him, knowing how far into pointless conversation he could go, but it seemed okay now since they were close to his room. "Yeah," she said at last. "I know."

He peered at her. "I have hair in my face too." He said this quietly, as if it were a secret that he had confessed.

"So I've noticed."

They sat there in silence for a few moments. "You want to hear a secret?" he whispered solemnly, leaning closer to Aelita. They were close enough so that their arms were brushing.

"Sure." She shrugged, expecting something more about her hair or inquiries on whether Mr. Puck had finished his "elf cookies" yet.

He glanced around quickly, then beckoned a finger. Aelita rolled her eyes, smiling slightly, but leaned in a little closer with her ear toward him.

"You can't tell Aelita," he murmured.

"But I—okay, I promise," she said, quickly realizing that it was pointless to disagree with him. He beckoned again, and she leaned closer again until their cheeks were inches apart.

"I have a crush on Aelita."

"Alright, that's—wait, what?" She drew back sharply, staring at him to make sure she had heard him right.

He nodded shyly, a blush spreading across his face. "I like Aelita a lot. But I'm afraid to tell her."

Aelita suddenly wanted to jerk back from him. "But, J-Jeremy—"

"Shh," he said, looking at her fiercely. "You can't tell!"

"But you don't know what you're—"

"_Shh,_" he insisted, putting a finger to his lips. Aelita stared at him, red-faced and stunned.

"I… but, you don't really…" She stammered. _He's not in his right mind. _That was it. That was right. It was just another piece of nonsense.

As Aelita stared at the serious look on his face, she wasn't so sure.

"Time… t-time to get you to bed," she managed hoarsely, bouncing up. She hauled him up again. It was easier this time, because he stood on his own.

He collapsed on his bed and apparently had the presence of mind to kick his shoes off. But not climb under the covers. Aelita sat in his computer chair, half-shocked, watching him for several moments.

"Uh… Why don't… why don't you want to tell Aelita… how you…?" She ventured.

Curled up on the bed, he blinked at her through half-open eyes. "Too shy," he mumbled, closing them. He still had his glasses on. "So pretty." He continued muttering under his breath, and Aelita thought she caught the words "teasing" and "rejection".

She walked over and carefully slid his glasses off, depositing them on the nightstand. He pawed at his face, stretched, and curled back up like a cat.

Aelita stared at him for several moments. Her heart felt full to bursting—he looked incredibly cute and innocent while he was asleep. If she didn't know him, she would not have considered that he occasionally had crushing stress or little sparks in his eyes that said he'd seen more than he should have.

And his confession. Her cheeks flared, and she cupped a hand to her mouth. Had he actually been serious? No, he couldn't have possibly been. She tried unsuccessfully to disregard it as she tugged the covers over him. He shifted for a second, then settled comfortably.

"Goodnight," she whispered finally, and left. She made it in time for the period before dinner, but she might as well have skipped it for all the good it did her.

They noticed her lack of concentration and stunned manner at dinner.

"Aelita, you've been quiet. Is there something the matter?" Yumi asked.

Aelita looked up, startled, from poking her fork at her mashed potatoes. She took a moment to answer. "No."

"Are you sure, Princess? It's not about Einstein, is it?" Odd asked, then grinned knowingly as she blushed. "What'd he do?"

She looked around the table at the expectant faces, some smirking but all smiling.

"Actually, I'd rather not talk about it."


	11. Delusions, Afterward

"I said _what?_" His voice had pitched several octaves higher, courtesy of the embarrassment that also flushed his cheeks.

"That Aelita was pretty, probably about ten times. You told me I was pretty too." Yumi could barely hold back a smile; it was only the knowledge that Jeremy was mortified enough without her amusement making him shrivel inside further that stopped her from grinning.

"Wonderful," he said, burying his face in his hands. "Anything else?"

"Oh yes." Yumi ticked off fingers. "You asked Aelita whether her cotton-candy hair was yummy, touched my stomach and said that you could 'see my tummy, and it feels nice', and almost kissed Odd."

He nearly fell out off the bed at the last one. "Oh, god, you're kidding," he moaned. While Jeremy knew that Yumi was restraining laughter out of respect for him, he also knew that Odd would do no such thing. Just great. There were years worth of blackmail, which Odd had collected in about two seconds.

He remembered earlier. Jeremy had woken up to a dazed Aelita sitting by his bedside, who had acted rather strangely when he sat up and asked what had happened yesterday. She stammered something unintelligible and turned red, then hurried out of the room before he had a chance to question her about it.

He listened to the hushed tones that sounded just outside of his bedroom door. They went on for several minutes, and he just sat there, trying to gather his thoughts and wondering why there was such an ache spreading throughout his body. The whispers had stopped when he was on the verge of getting up to go check on them.

Yumi slipped into his room with an unusual expression on her face. It was hesitant and delicate, making Jeremy's stomach turn—that was a sort of "bad news" face. She somehow managed to avoid answering his following questions about Aelita, and instead branched off vaguely about how sometimes people said things that they didn't mean, and that was okay sometimes. He was confused at first but quickly became irritated, as it was clear she was skirting some sort of issue she didn't want to bring up. He opened his mouth to tell her to brush aside whatever she was doing and get to the point. Coincidentally, right before he spoke, that was exactly what she did.

And then he suddenly understood why it was Yumi that was in here, why she had been gently easing him onto the subject. She was the only one with the tact to explain his behavior to him in the least painful way and not tease him about it. He was grateful for her casual tones and averting gazes—she was obviously trying to preserve a scrap of his dignity for him. Though it wasn't working very well, because nothing could stop Jeremy from blushing and hiding his face when he discovered how he had acted.

At first he avoided her eyes with embarrassment that quickly turned to mortification, then squirmed uncomfortably and mumbled responses. Now that he had heard the things he'd said, however, Jeremy could contain himself no longer.

"No," she answered apologetically, and from the way she turned her head, Jeremy knew she was hiding a smile. He didn't hold it against her, knowing very well that he would find it hilarious if their places were swapped, but they weren't. Her attempt to keep him from feeling self-conscious and embarrassed was in vain, though he appreciated her effort.

"I'll never live it down," he muttered, words muffled. "Never. Oh, god."

Yumi had managed to compose her expression and scooted his rolling chair over to the bed. She let herself think about how Jeremy must have been feeling, what it would be like if she'd done similar things around Ulrich, and it was harder to smile then.

"Don't worry about it," she said easily, dropping an arm across his shoulder. She might not have let it go easily, she admitted to herself, if she had done it. But it still would have been easier for her than for Jeremy. She knew that, despite their forged social bond and his comfortableness associated with them, he was still extremely self-conscious when it came to himself. She tried to use a comfortable tone that would ease the sting of embarrassment she knew he must have been feeling.

"I made a complete fool of himself," he muttered, and Yumi had to resist a sigh. There were two Jeremys that could come out when he was embarrassed: the snappish one, and then the pitying, shy one. It was obvious that he was falling into a more extreme mode of the latter.

"But _you _didn't. You weren't in your right mind."

"It doesn't matter, Yumi. I was acting stupid, and I said a lot of stupid things too." He tried to shy away from her arm, but she held him tight, almost wanting to force her comfort on him. She knew that wouldn't work but still felt he needed that arm. He had his knees pulled to his chest and face hidden in them now, with his bare toes curling on the bed.

"I don't even want to _think _about what I might have said to Aelita when I was with her."

And he hit the chord. Yumi cringed, very slightly, but he felt it and looked up. She hurried to reassure him while inwardly cursing her hesitation. She hesitated half a second before putting up a mask of reassurance, and she knew he noticed.

"What did I say?" he demanded, completely ignoring her fake comforts.

She started to shake her head but stopped, and paused for several seconds. "Don't worry about it."

Aelita had confided to her, of course, at the end of yesterday. As Yumi left, the pinkette had jogged up and frantically caught her on the edge of campus. Things spilled out of her mouth too fast. She'd caught the words "Jeremy" and "crush" before she had to forcefully stop the avalanche of words, a little more sharply than she'd intended. And after Yumi had heard her embarrassed confession and panicked plea for advice, she had mused to herself, before advising Aelita to keep it to herself unless Jeremy brought it up or unless she felt she needed to bring it up.

Aelita responded frustratingly that she had been rather unhelpful. Looking back, Yumi partially agreed and wished the uncertain girl hadn't confided in her in the first place.

She grimaced at Jeremy's expectant face. This was one of the scenarios she had been afraid to become trapped in. She wanted to help the shy almost couple along, but at the same time, she knew that they had to go along without too much of her meddling. Bringing up Jeremy's accidental admittance of his feelings was almost a sure bet on too much prodding.

Besides, Yumi wanted to give Aelita the opportunity to keep it a secret or bring it up with him. Whichever happened, she felt that it was between them, and she didn't want to interfere.

"Don't worry about it," she repeated, a little more forcefully this time. This was the part she didn't like, where she'd have to deny Jeremy this information, just on the account that it wasn't her business to do otherwise.

They stared at each other for several moments. Yumi's gaze was firm but not unkind. Jeremy's matched her stubbornness and contained a hint of defensiveness. In the end he recognized her line of thinking and resigned himself to a grudging nod, frowning down at his knees. He knew she wouldn't tell him out of respect for both of them and couldn't dispute that.

Jeremy let out an irritated huff of breath. Why did she have to be so reasonable, helpful, and annoying at the same time?

Yumi noticed it and felt some amusement. She chose her next words carefully however, knowing his need for something to break the tension, yet not tear down even more of his dignity.

"Aelita might tell you," she said gently, slowly. "I don't think she minded you like that. Jer, trust me," she said earnestly as he looked back up at her, "in a while you'll be just as amused as Odd is with this."

He wasn't so sure, but he accepted the attempt to cheer him up with the tiniest of smiles.

"Really, don't worry about it." She allowed herself to smile widely, hugging him with her arm. "I'll talk to Aelita if you'd like me to."

As much as the idea of her easing some of the awkwardness between them sounded pleasant to Jeremy, he knew that she had already done plenty enough for them, and shook his head. "But thanks."

She nodded; it was her turn to feel grateful. She would have gone through this awkward talk a second time with Aelita if he'd asked, though that didn't mean she wanted to. Sensing that the mood had lightened, she let a trickle of meaningfulness drop into her tone as she said, "Aelita won't like you any less for it."

He blushed but smiled up at her. "Thanks, Yumi."

Yumi recognized the thanks. It held more than just thanks for what she'd just said, or even this situation that she had helped him through, if she weren't analyzing this too much. She heard the appreciation ingrained deeply in his tone and knew he was truly thanking her.

She winked at him. "Anytime."


	12. Oops

"No fair," Jeremy muttered.

"You sound like Odd," Aelita teased. "He always says that when he loses… Rematch?" And she let out a laugh as, predictably, Jeremy nodded firmly.

They had been at this for almost two hours. Both of them—well, mostly Jeremy—had the sheen of sweat on their brow, despite changing into more loose and cool clothes almost an hour ago. Aelita wore a simple t-shirt and her gym shorts while Jeremy wore his sweat pants with a blue t-shirt similar to hers. Aelita was the one, however, who had foreseen the need to change a while back in their tournament. She was lucky she had such clothes packed for Christmas break and suddenly thanked herself for the impulse.

This the only tournament Jeremy would ever play, the pinkette thought wryly as she went to reset the game.

_Tennis for Wii._

They had played at least ten games already, though it had taken less than half a game to discover that his coordination in simulated sports was just as bad as in real ones. Feeling a small sense of pity for his lack of athletic skill, Aelita thought she'd let up on one—just a little, and on one, mind you. But after that it was on, and even without her playing to full potential, she won most of the games. Though most wasn't quite the right word, a she had won all of them, more accurately, except for about two.

That did not bode well with Jeremy.

He took great pride in his intelligent skill, so a trivia or strategy game would have been a different matter. He held his athletic skill, or lack thereof, in low self esteem. But he thought that he might have had a change at a simulated like this, and so many losses was stinging even his scrap of athletic pride.

Granted, he had given her some trouble on a few games. They were the last few, each increasing in score until Aelita began to get worried. It seemed like all he had to do was catch onto it. For his part, Jeremy was fully convinced he could beat Aelita. If only barely and by a few points, but he could still beat her.

The new game was started. This time, both of the players' brows were scrunched in concentration, both of the players jumped once or twice unnecessarily in the urge to beat the other.

It was a stalemate, Aelita realized. He could actually win this. She couldn't let that happen, of course. She had asserted her dominance and planned to keep it there. Briefly, she considered briefly dashing in to give a startling peck on the cheek.

Then something flew at her head.

She shrieked—her lack of breath reduced it to a yelp—and dropped immediately to the floor, thanking Xana for the quick reflexes the AI's attack had forced upon her. She heard a loud thud as she stood cautiously, glancing at Jeremy. His face was slack and it had turned pale. That was saying something, as his cheeks had been previously flushed with effort.

"Aelita, I'm so sorry. Are you okay? Oh, man…my parents are going to kill me," he said in a hoarse whisper, a horrified look on his face.

"Fine," Aelita said, too startled to form a quip for the situation. She followed his gaze to a small dent in the wall where a small patch of paint had flaked off. She was confused for a moment until she saw the absence of the wii remote in his hand.

A grin spread over her face in realization. She burst into laughter quite suddenly, clutching her sides. Some part of her felt guilty for laughing at the stricken look on his face, but it was swept out by the force of her giggles.

"It's not funny," Jeremy said anxiously, averting his eyes in embarrassment. "Oh, man," he whispered again, as footsteps came from the hall. "I'm dead."

It took Mrs. Belpois several seconds to get over the sight of Aelita doubled over on the floor in laughter and her son's horrified face. She almost—almost—asked what that noise had been, or if Aelita could actually _breath. _Then she thought better of it. Aelita was still laughing, she reasoned, so she must have been okay.

She shook her head and left, shifting the laundry basket in her arms.

_Kids these days. _


	13. Midnight Cravings

Done out of request on tumblr

* * *

"Jeremy, are you awake?"

The words are whispered with a quiet insistence, floating over in the near-darkness to reach the blond on the other side of the bed.

There is a moment of silence. "I am now." These words are also whispered, tinged with a hint of purposeful annoyance. They gently tell her that he isn't pleased at being woken up.

"Oh. Sorry."

Jeremy is curled up in the darkness, exhausted and stiff, on the tiniest sliver of bed he possesses. During the night Aelita scoots and twists and turns, pushing Jeremy until he is somehow on the very edge of the mattress. There is room for two more people on the other side. But he is too tired, and knows that she is also tired, so he doesn't wake her up or try and roll her over. He stretches out and just tries not to fall off.

This, however, coupled with her urging him out of sleep is pushing him closer to irritation. He tries not to mind. It's not like he was getting great sleep, anyway. It was fitful and light—waking him up isn't hard. He doesn't have to make an effort to stay up now that he's woken; he's not comfortable enough to fall asleep and senses that she has something more to say. It takes almost a full minute.

"I want ice cream," she sighs at last.

Jeremy is turned away from her. She is latched on to his back, so he is reluctant to move, but he also wants to look at her with exasperation.

"Ice cream," he repeats. He shouldn't be surprised. It is actually one of her more orthodox cravings, compared to peanut butter and marshmallows, but still…

"Chocolate," she specifies. He can feel her shifting against him so he turns, half pushing himself up. She's on her back. Even though the lack of glasses and light reduces her figure to a dark and blurry shape, he directs a look of incredulity at her, wondering if she can see it.

He turns to the alarm clock, stretching closer to peer at it. This only serves to increase his exasperation. "It's the middle of the night." He struggles not to moan. He knows he will be the one getting out of the warm bed, and shuffling across the cold kitchen floor to get her food.

"So it is," she replies. He falls back onto the bed with a sigh, simultaneously snatching his glasses of the nightstand with practiced ease. He slides them on, lying on his back, and the blurry shapes around him sharpen slightly into focus. A bit of his left side hangs off the bed.

"How many?" he asks finally.

She looks at him questioningly.

He turns to her. They're still pressed together, so their noses almost touch when he does so. He can feel her hot breath on his cheeks. "Scoops. How many?"

Her face breaks into a grateful, tired smile. He sees a movement and knows that she is subconsciously rubbing her bulging tummy. "Three should be fine."

He nods and moans softly as he pulls himself upright. The bed creaks in quiet sympathy.

This is the last thing he wants to do. They'd been scrambling to baby-proof the apartment and gather the necessary things for the baby, read all the pamphlets and cram as much information insider their heads as they could without forgetting. On top of all the wild buying and research, Aelita's emotional state was horrid—happy one moment and sad the next, then furious or impatient. During their recent trip to Walmart he'd been almost certain that she had been about to bite cashier's head off. Then he was stricken as she had burst into tears over breakfast. Aelita's rapidly changing moods not only strained her, but Jeremy as well, who received the brunt of all the emotion.

All of this created heavy stress and exhaustion for them both, so Jeremy definitely did _not _want to fix Aelita ice cream at 12am.

But that's just the kind of good husband he is.

An unwilling yawn is torn from his mouth as he pads into the kitchen. He hears more footsteps and suddenly Aelita is behind him, shivering slightly in her tank top and undergarments.

"Why are you up?" He speaks quietly. He expects her to stay in bed until he brings the ice cream to her.

"Bathroom," she responds sleepily, and staggers off in the opposite direction. Jeremy shakes his head and turns the kitchen light on, hissing quietly with annoyance as it almost blinds him. He hates it, but he can't fix ice cream in almost pitch-blackness.

A few minutes later he hears the toilet flushing and they meet back again on the couch. The brightness and cold has undone his comfortable sleepiness, so he doesn't mind sitting here instead of going back to bed.

"Mm, thank you," she says earnestly as he hands her the bowl. She begins eating immediately, simultaneously shivering. Earlier he vaguely remembers her wearing pants to bed, like himself, but kicking them off sometime in the night. She looks like she regrets it now; he can see goose bumps on her bare legs.

He leaves and quickly returns with a blanket. Smiling gratefully for the third time tonight—er, this morning—she allows him to drape it over her.

"Thanks" she mumbles around the ice cream. One of the scoops is gone.

He settles in next to her. She stops wolfing for a moment and looks up at his weary face.

"Have some."

He's been staring off into space dazedly; her statement snaps him awake. "Huh? Uh, no thanks."

"Have some," she repeats, carving a blob of the chocolaty treat onto her spoon.

"Thanks, but I don't wa—ah—mmf." His statement is cut off as she turns her wrist sharply, depositing the spoon and ice cream into his mouth. Instinctively, his lips clamp down on it, and she slides the spoon out of his mouth with a look of satisfaction on her face.

She giggles at his startled expression. Looking at her with amusement, he runs it around with his tongue until it melts, now completing the cycle of coldness throughout his body. It tastes nice and sweet but he doesn't want anymore, which is fortunate because her gusto has suddenly returned. He knows she will share more if he asks, though.

He puts an arm around her and waits until she finishes. The kitchen bulb is still on, spilling pale light into the darker living room and throwing shadows across their faces.

"Better?" he asks when she sighs and leans her head on his shoulder.

"Much. Thank you." The spoon clatters slightly as she sets the bowl aside. They sit there for a while, dazed and in silence. Their spot on the couch has become warm and comfortable now. He doesn't want to leave. But he hears her breathing even out and though he hates to do it, gently rouses her.

"Bed," he says simply. He throws off the blanket and helps her up, resting a hand on her belly as he does so. She leans obediently against him and stumbles, now just as exhausted as him, over to bed and falls onto it. He pulls the covers around her shoulder and tucks them. She murmurs something; he thinks it is another "thanks".

She's left him a bit more room this time, so he doesn't have to pull his arms and legs uncomfortably close to his body. The bed isn't as warm as it was several minutes ago, but they can fix that.

"Goodnight," Jeremy mumbles as he takes off his glasses and slides closer to her.

She's asleep. He puts a drowsy kiss on her cheek and slips an arm around her, so his hand eventually comes to rest on her tummy.

"I love you. Both of you," he whispers. The words, soft as they are, ring powerfully in the darkness.

And then he sinks into sleep.


	14. Pie

for imagineyourotp on tumblr. someone mentioned that I should do more of them married and hey look what I happen to find

* * *

Aelita moaned as she fell onto the couch, a dull ache spreading throughout her body.

"Long day?" Jeremy asked.

"Mph," Aelita said into the couch. She briefly lifted her head and looked at him through one eye, letting out a yawn. "I work with idiots. Everything hurts. I need coffee." And with those three statements, she let her head fall back onto the cushion.

Jeremy gave a small chuckle of empathy rather than sympathy. He had watched as she walked through the door of their small apartment, bleary-eyed and stiff. She had immediately walked to the couch, dropped her bag, and simply fell onto it without even taking her shoes off.

"It's too late for coffee," he said with gentle admonition and stroked her hair. "If you want, I'll start a hot bath. Just go to the bathroom and I'll be there in a few minutes."

She let out another muffled sound. A hot bath did sound awfully nice, but she was reluctant to move from her place. Sensing her need for encouragement, Jeremy brushed his fingers on that spot on her waist. Aelita let out a funny noise and turned over. She gave him a mock glare, but he only smiled and left the room. A few moments later, she heard the sound of running water.

Grudgingly, she pulled herself up and trudged to the bathroom. Jeremy pecked her on the cheek as he left it and drew out her small sigh of appreciation.

Aelita perched herself on the lip of the tub and ran her fingers through the water. She shuddered involuntarily, in pleasure, as she felt its tempting warmth. Suddenly she couldn't wait to get in the tub. Idly she allowed some oil to trickle under the faucet, and soon bubbles were spread across the water.

At last it was filled. She turned the faucet off and disrobed, tentatively sliding a foot in. Again Aelita shuddered and she sunk into the bath with careful eagerness.

She gasped happily. Oh, that was wonderful. She slid down so that the water was to her neck and allowed her head to hang over the edge, closing her eyes in relaxation.

Then he was there. She gasped again as she felt firm but gentle hands slide around her neck and down to her shoulders.

"Would you like to tell me about your day?"

"Jeremy… Sure." Everything suddenly disappeared. Her mental rants, taut patience, and complaints were gone. Left distracted and groggy, Aelita only managed one word. "I…"

Jeremy didn't comment or push. He began rubbed her shoulders and back, hands dipping gracefully into the soapy water. A sharp intake of breath made him pause.

"Am I hurting you?"

Aelita opened her eyes and glanced back at him. She saw concern and willingness there and knew that he was doing his best to make her feel good. Putting as much gratefulness as she could into her eyes, Aelita shook her head.

"You kidding? Keep doing it. Please."

He did so, and she turned back to close her eyes. She sighed more than once when he hit a particular tight knot in her back or neck, or when he leaned forward to pepper kisses on her face and neck. At some point she mumbled out a sleepy "thank you".

"That's what I'm here for, Angel."

After a few more minutes he reluctantly urged her out, seeing her frame relax and more frequent yawns. Aelita didn't want to leave but conceded he was right. She washed and left the tub, quickly drying herself off with the prospect of a warm bed to encourage her.

Jeremy ushered her to the bed and she more fell on it than anything, suddenly realizing how exhausted she was. As he tucked the covers around her, she murmured, "Do you know how much I love you?"

Jeremy smiled. "A lot?"

"Pie," she responded, looking at him through barely open eyes. When Jeremy blinked in confusion she went on to explain: "Pie, as in the number, is endless."

His smile widened to a grin.

"I love you too, Aelita.


	15. Nostolgia

He smiles. She smiles. They link hands with the same happy ease they've been doing for the last few years and she rests her head on his shoulder, using her free hand to point to a picture of them.

"Look," she says softly. It's dark and quiet in the bed, and she doesn't want to break what she senses has descended upon them.

The picture shows a younger blond boy, devoid of his usual glasses, in his pajamas. He's sprawled on the floor with a startled expression.

He chuckles quietly at his younger self. "One of my biggest birthday surprises ever, Angel."

She manages a sleepy, peaceful grin as she turns the page. "And there?"

"A kiss Millie and Tamiya caught on camera. Oh, that was an embarrassing week." The memory brings another quiet chuckle. "I wonder how they're doing," he adds as an afterthought.

She yawns and fights a miniature battle with her eyelids. "Hopefully as good as the rest of us are doing," she murmurs. The future sees the formerly awkward genius and virtual girl well, married and with successful, content lives. They see the others every few months. It's not much, but it's enough.

"Oh," he says softly.

It's their picture.

It shows six teenagers and one dog—the blond is holding hands with the pinkette, and similarly with the brunette and tall raven-haired girl. A blond and purple haired boy holds a scrawny dog in his hands. They all grin as if they're the happiest they could possibly be. They look carefree.

They know better. He unconsciously rubs a circle on her palm with his thumb at the site of this, and she squeezes his hand softly in retaliation. They both have the same thoughts of Kadic, Lyoko, and Xana.

_It feels like ages ago._

Or it should. Suddenly the atmosphere becomes emotional, ripe with memories of the past.

Almost asleep, she pushes the bad ones out of her mind. It is a nice night. Now was the time for remembering with fondness, not regretting and mourning.

"I remember…" she begins, interrupts herself with a yawn. "I remember… how everything was then. What I felt for you. And… they were stubborn fools."

He doesn't have to ask who she's referring to. He raises an eyebrow instead even though he knows she won't see it. "Yes," he agrees, "and we're hypocrites."

She makes a small noise of acknowledgement, her eyes completely closed now and dangerously close to drifting off. "We were the best of friends. Are," she corrects herself. Her words are slurred slightly.

"Yeah." He speaks one word absentmindedly, hints at another. He's silent. "If you could do everything over again," he begins seriously, "would you?"

She's silent, and he can tell that she's thinking about her father. The seconds go by. He worries she's fallen asleep, but then she mumbles the answer out. "In a heartbeat."

He doesn't speak for several seconds, staring at the picture. It fills his head with so many memories. Regrets. Self-deprecating thoughts. Did he do well enough?

He pushes those thoughts away. Like her, he doesn't want to dig into darker emotions now. He focuses on the happy memories, the small moments between them. The first kisses. Late night chats. The casual, treasured moments when they could be normal teenagers for a little while. Was the good worth the bad?

It was. All of it. "I would too," he finally admits.

But she's already asleep.


	16. Caribbean

Random speedwriting prompt from a friend, done in 15 minutes.

* * *

"So… What's this movie about again? Pirates, right?"

"Yeah, so Odd says. He was shocked when I told him I had never seen it."

"Well, you know Odd." They shared a brief laugh before the opening credits rolled on, and she instinctively scooted a little closer, conscious of their arms now rubbing together. Too intent on the screen, Jeremy didn't. That was fine with her.

The first and second scene passed without too much ado. Pirates, introductions, it didn't interest her too much. She wasn't really interested in the movie, honestly. Earlier in the day her brain had translated "do you want to watch a movie with me" to "do you want to spend two hours sitting with me in dim lighting", and she was very interested in that part. She quickly agreed to this, allowing her excitement to show, knowing that he would be oblivious to her ulterior motive.

Halfway through the movie, she left for the bathroom, insisting that he didn't need to pause it for her but unsurprised when she returned to find that the movie had indeed been stopped.

She sat again and thanked him politely, while simultaneously sitting even closer. Quickly their fingers became interlaced. Obviously this was enough contact for Jeremy to notice her, and she had to suppress a smirk as he looked at her with a flushed and slightly startled face—if she could see his blush in the weak light of his family's guestroom, then he could see her expression too.

Aelita allowed herself small smiles. Through the movie she took whatever chance she could get, happening to jerk in his direction during startling fight scenes or lean in just a _little _closer in any relatively scary part.

By the time the movie was reaching its end, they were both sprawled lazily on the couch, with her leaned comfortably into his arm and their fingers interlaced. She frowned as the end credits came on, unmoving, hoping silently that their moment could last a little longer.

It did for a minute. Then she felt Jeremy shift slightly under her and resisted a sigh, peeling herself off of him. They stretched.

"I think Odd exaggerated a little. It was good, but…" he began.

A smile wavered on her lips. "That's Odd for you."

Jeremy chuckled. "Yeah. How'd you enjoy the movie?"

The smile strengthened. "I enjoyed it a lot. We should do this again sometime."

And, silently, she cheered to herself as Jeremy nodded.


End file.
